Food Bloggers - Ladies Lunch @ The Village, Potts Point

About a month ago I received am email to attend a complementary lunch held by Ladies Lunch, which is based at The Village in Potts point. The Village, Potts Point contains three bars, two bistros, a court yard and dance floor. I really enjoyed the decor where the ceiling advertised the daily specials, and along one of the walls hung some lovely black and white photographs.

The concept of Ladies Lunch is to create a lunch, with a casual upbeat atmosphere in comparison to a high tea. It allows ladies to be able to talk and drink with good food resulting in a great time.

Pimm's and lemonade cocktail

This was the second time I had tried Pimm's in a cocktail and it was refreshing. The taste was similar to that of a lemon & lime bitters. 

Antipasto plate with cured meats, artichokes, chargrilled red peppers, semi-dried tomatoes, marinated olives, hummus, beetroot dip & toasted sour dough

Now to the starter, a very lovely set up antipasto platter. They provided an assortment of flavours to suit everyone's palate.

Arancini balls with spinach and smoked mozzarella

An aracini ball is cooked arborio rice that is balled and fried. This results in a soft centre (similar to a risotto) and a crunchy outside. I personally find these rather addicting and enjoyable.

Crispy salt and pepper squid sprinkled with sea salt, and rocket, lemon & chilli aioli

The salt and pepper squid was crispy and accompanied the rocket and aioli well. I normally find that salt and pepper squid can be too salty, but this one had a great balance.

Roasted pumpkin with pine nuts, baby spinach & marinated feta

This was one of my favourite dishes. The simplicity of the dish is what made the dish wonderful. The pumpkin was perfectly cooked where it was soft but had a bite. The pine nuts added at great texture.

Tomato with mozzarella, fresh basil, olive & balsamic vinegar

A refreshing break from all the fried food. 

Margherita pizza fresh tomato, garlic, oregano with fresh basil & parmesan

The pizza was cheesy with a thin and crispy base. I love pizzas that have a thin and crispy crust. I wish the pizza had a bit more tomato pieces, but other then that it was yummy.

Left: Apple & berry crumble with vanilla bean anglaise, 

Right: Chocolate fondant with berry coulis & vanilla bean ice cream

Now to dessert, where we were given 2 desserts to share. The apple and berry crumble was warm and the crumble was crunchy. I don't like cooked apple, but in this case with the sourness of the berries it made it more nice and bearable. The anglaise was sweet and creamy. The chocolate fondant was my favourite dish of the whole lunch. It had a crunchy top, and a gooey chocolate centre. The berry coulis and vanilla ice cream helped counteract the intensity of the chocolate.

The overall experience was wonderful. Ladies Lunch is a great way to celebrate a girl friends birthday, or for a day out to catch up with some of your closest girl friends. For more information go to: http://the-village.com.au/

Good food, good times!